Southern Ill. has share of conference lead

By Pete Mollica

CARBONDALE, Ill. — Youngstown State will try to snap a two-game losing streak against Southern Illinois when the Penguins invade McAndrew Stadium today to take on the No. 3-ranked Salukis.

Kickoff is set for 4 p.m.

The Penguins have lost five of the last six meetings against the Salukis, including a 33-0 shutout last year at Stambaugh Stadium.

YSU has dropped three straight to the Salukis at McAndrew Stadium, which is in its final season of existence. A new facility will be ready for the Salukis beginning with the 2010 season.

The Penguins (4-2, 2-1 Missouri Valley Football Conference) are coming off an open date. Their last contest was Oct. 10 when they defeated Western Illinois 31-21 after racing out to a 31-0 halftime lead.

The Penguins have fared very well in the past after a bye week. They’ve won six straight dating back to the 1998 campaign. Their last loss came at Western Illinois 14-0 in 1998.

Historically the Penguins have had success after taking a week off. Since 1975 YSU has won 24 of 27 games following an idle weekend.

This year the Penguins did not play on a Saturday in October for the first time since the 1997 season.

The Salukis (5-1, 4-0) are coming off a big victory a week ago when they knocked off Northern Iowa, 27-20, in a MVFC contest at the UNIDome in Cedar Falls, Iowa. That win ended an 11-game losing streak the Salukis had at the UNIDome.

A year ago Southern Illinois completely throttled an injury-riddled YSU team, holding the Penguins to just 70 rushing yards and 207 total yards. It was a game that the Penguins were using their fourth starting quarterback of the year as true freshman Dailyn Campbell got his first start.

The league’s biggest battle will take place in Brookings, S.D., where South Dakota State (5-1, 4-0), ranked No. 11 in the FCS polls, will play host to Northern Iowa (5-2, 3-1). The Panthers are ranked No. 6 this week.

The Panthers lead the series 25-16-2 including a 34-20 win a year ago. Kickoff is at 3 p.m.

In other action Missouri State (4-3, 2-2) will visit North Dakota State (1-6, 0-4) in only the second meeting of the two teams at Fargo, N.D. in a 7 p.m. kickoff. The Bison won the only other meeting last season 48-27 in Springfield, Mo.

Western Illinois (1-5, 0-3) and Indiana State (0-7, 0-4) will clash in Terre Haute, Ind., today at 3:05 p.m. with the winner getting its first conference win. The Leathernecks posted a 56-0 win a year ago and lead the series, 20-12, including wins in the last nine meetings.

Including South Dakota State and Southern Illinois this year, a league team has started conference play with a 4-0 record 26 times. All but one (Western Kentucky in 2005) finished second or better in the league standings. Nineteen of the previous 24 with 4-0 or better starts earned playoff berths, while 17 won the league title.

Only 15 teams in league history have started a season with at least five straight conference victories.

All of the previous 15 teams to start 5-0 finished second or better in the league standings. Fourteen of the 15 earned playoff berths and 14 won the title. Nine of them went undefeated in league play. Only twice in league history (1987, 2003) have two teams started 5-0 or better the same season.

mollica@vindy.com